A Holiday Poem
23 Elul 5761
(September 11, 2001)
accompanying the rumble of burning jet
fuel and fatiguing metal
echoes in skyscraper ravines
first responders
sirens
wailing from all directions
apocalyptic cacophony
earlier that morning
shofrot blaring from the four corners of the City
annual heralds of the coming
Judgment Day
(It is customary to blow the shofar every day after the morning service of the month of Elul, which precedes Rosh Hashanah, except on Sabbaths and the last, 29th day of the month.)
"Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief"
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
